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| THE FRESH, WHOLESOME FACE OF ADVERTISING, |
One of the most refreshing faces in the modeling scene in
the mid-70s to the 80s, was teen beauty MYRA MENDOZA. The winsome high schooler from St. Paul was but a teen when she started modeling for commercials; she
enjoyed the experience so much and never looked back—bagging major contracts
for Close-Up toothpaste, Camay Soap, US Shampoo and Clearasil in her heyday.
She was in high school when she performed in a
dance number for an event sponsored by the popular 1970s music magazine, JINGLE
Chordbook. She met the owner Gilbert
Guillermo, whom she credits as her “discoverer”.
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| MYRA, as she appeared ob JINGLE Music Magazine, 1977, Source: Nonoy Bonzon |
Pretty soon, she was appearing on the pages of the
widely-read Jingle magazine, along with
song lyrics set with guitar chords. Her posed pictures were just small
insets—strumming a guitar, reading the magazine, candid shots. But the readers were drawn to
her good looks—and she would become the unofficial sweetheart of the popular
youth-oriented music magazine.
Next thing Myra knew, she was being besieged by talent
agents and casters from major ad agencies. She recalls: “In those days , casting was not done as
efficiently and professionally as today. I would just get phone calls from
agents or ad agencies asking if I was available to shoot. Simple as that. No
try outs, no vtr’s (videotaped
auditions).
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| US SHAMPOO AD, 1979 |
Her earliest ad was a TV commercial for Clearasil, directed by legendary commercial director Jun Urbano. In 1979, she also did an ad for US Shampoo with conditioner, targetted at teens and young adults. This turned out to be her busiest year, as she also was featured in the popular Chiclets’ “Tsikletin Mo, Baby” TVC.
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| MYRA, Tsikletin Mo baby, TV Ad, 1980 |
Myra was also scouted by local women’s magazines, and she became a
cover girl i many of them, shot by the leading photographers of that time. She was still
finishing her communications course when she was cast to appear in one of the
most sought-after roles in the industry—that of being a Close-Up girl
for Close-Up Toothpaste, then a very popular youth brand. For many of the lucky
Close-up talents, the slick, well-produced commercials were springboard to TV
and movie stardom.
“The Close-Up ad was fun to do!” , Myra reminisced. Though she could no longer remember the name of her
male partner in the (“I think his last name is Rodriguez”), she found the
experience of shooting her commercial very easy and enjoyable. “Close-Up was
doing a campaign consisting of a series of ads. So all the lead talents --some
of them at least--came out in each other’s TVCs as background talents. Parang
barkada!”.
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| MYRA MENDOZA, on the cover of Women's Home Companion Magazine, 29 Nov. 1979 |
Incidentally,
Loren Legarda, the future senator, was also part of that Close-Up batch. Years
later, when Myra was working for ABS-CBN, she would bump into Legarda, who, by
then, was the anchor of the late night news, “The World Tonight”. “ And she
still remembered me long after our
Close-Up years were over!”, Myra enthused.
With a diploma finally in hand, Myra landed a job with
one of the most prestigious multinational advertising agency in the
Philippines—Ace-Compton Advertising (later, Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi)—as a
talent caster, of all positions!! That time, Ace-Compton had the best in-house
talent casting department in the industry, complete with a studio and VTR
machines for go-sees and auditions.
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| MYRA MENDOZA, as the Face of Oil of Olay, Procter & Gamble, 1980 |
She was casting for such blue-chip clients like Procter
& Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and Filipro-Nestle, Inc. Her stint with
Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi was memorable for 2 reasons. It was with the agency
that she was picked to do the Camay “Guess Who’s 16” TV commercial, thus
joining the elite circle of Camay Girls. She also became the face of Oil of
Olay when it was introduced by P&G in the Philippines.
Looking for other creative challenges, Myra set her sight
on commercial production. When Advertising & Marketing Associates had an
opening, she resigned from Ace to try broadcast production. She realized that
she was not cut out to be a producer, so she made a drastic move to the hotel
industry, by being a banquet sales manager for Manila Hotel.
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| MYRA, AS A CASTER AT ACE-SAATCHI with copywriter Alex Castro |
But the lure of advertising, the world in which she grew
up in, proved irresistible after awhile.
Lintas top honcho Wally Reyes called her up and invited her to set up the
casting department of the growing agency. She took up the offer, organized the
agency’s talent department and stayed on for 4 years.
Myra would move back to Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi for a
brief interlude. Her last corporate job was with the Sales Department of
ABS-CBN. After ten years, she resigned in 2002 due to health issues, as she
needed time to recuperate from a major surgery.
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| WATERCOLOR ART OF MYRA, A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST. |
“I’ve stayed a homemaker ever since”, she says without
regret. So I then started painting among
other things. I’m a hobbyist. I created some fashion jewelry, I sew, despite
having no formal training. I also like to cook. So really, I dabble in anything
that interests me.”
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| COME A LITTLE CLOSER BABY, SMILE, FOR ME. Myra Mendoza and boyfriend, Chris Portillo in their younger days. |
True to her calling, Myra Mendoza remained an
honest-to-goodness model all her life. With her collective life experience and achievements, you could say that she is a model homemaker, mother, and wife today!
WATCH THIS VIDEO OF FORMER AD
MODEL MYRA MENDOZA-PORTILLO TODAY:
SOURCE:
E-mail interview conducted by author, April 2, 2019
Where in the world is Myra?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UYWnDmPqMo, posted by Dennis Garcia, 7 Sep. 2013
Photo collage of Myra as Jingle Music Magazine model, Nonoy Bonzon, posted on Jingle Music Magazine FB page.
Myra Mendoza-Portillo FB Page.
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